Posted on behalf of Roberta Kwok

The Texas State Board of Education appears to be of two minds over whether the merits of evolution should be debated in schools. On the one hand, board members got rid of a 20-year-old line in the science curriculum last week requiring that teachers cover the “strengths and weaknesses” of scientific theories. On the other hand, that decision was immediately followed by a successful proposal to teach arguments “for and against” the idea that all organisms evolved from a common ancestor.

“How that differs from the old language of ‘strengths and weaknesses’ is not readily apparent,” notes a New York Times editorial, which says the board “fumbled” the decision.

We’ve heard these arguments before. But Texas, the latest battleground state in the evolution curriculum controversy, is a bigger fish than most because it’s so, well, big. The state has 4.7 million public school students (Houston Chronicle), making it one of the top textbook buyers in the country (New York Times). A Texas board decision could affect what publishers include in science textbooks nationwide.

The amendment to include arguments against common ancestry in the curriculum “could provide a small foothold for teaching creationist ideas and dumbing down biology instruction in Texas,” says Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, a nonprofit that campaigned against the “strengths and weaknesses” requirement (Dallas Morning News). The other side begs to differ: “This isn’t about religion,” says board member Barbara Cargill, who supported the proposal to cover arguments against common descent (Houston Chronicle). “It’s about science. We want to stick to the science.”

A final vote on the curriculum is scheduled for March.

Image: Nature